Research from Dr. Elizabeth Head and Dr. Vivek Swarup is shedding light on how brain cells change across the lifespan and their connection to neurodegeneration
A study co-led by Dr. Head at alongside colleagues at MIT and Rutgers University found that in adults with Down’s syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), astrocytes, which support regulation and support in the brain, were fewer and appeared to have “shut down”. This astrocytic exhaustion may provide insight into the onset of AD in adulthood.
This builds on previous work by Dr. Swarup. Dr. Swarup’s study using spatial and single-cell transcriptomics on brain samples identified similarities between people with Down’s syndrome-associated AD and sporadic AD, revealing shared neuroinflammatory and neurotoxic pathways, though effects were stronger in people with Down’s syndrome-associated AD, who carried a larger burden of plaques and tangles.
Read the full article here: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/astrocytes-downs-reactive-early-life-exhausted-near-end
